The sheriff and sergeant in the skiff, followed by John’s boat, arrived at the Fernandina Beach city dock around six o’clock that Sunday. John, Mary, Lucy, Logan, and Prince piled into the sheriff’s car and were immediately driven to the Sheriff’s Office.
At the Sheriff’s Office, located in Yulee, Florida about eleven miles from Fernandina Beach in Nassau County, Sergeant Joe Haddock, who constantly blew smoke-rings from a pack of unfiltered Camels, quizzed John, Mary, Lucy, and Logan individually. Prince found a cool place to lie down in the waiting area. John went first for the inquisition, followed by Mary, Lucy, and Logan, respectively. Each of them gave verbal and written statements in a small room with no windows. A long worn-out fold-up table containing two ashtrays full of cigarette butts, and four fold-up chairs were situated haphazardly around the table. The three of them were asked the same questions. Why were they on the island? What did they do while on the island? How did they discover the buried body? Their answers were the same, and after about forty minutes or so with each of them, Sergeant Haddock seemed satisfied that they were telling the truth. Sergeant Haddock told them all to sit in the waiting area while he talked to the Sheriff.
Sergeant Haddock went inside the sheriff’s office without knocking, and closed the door behind him. Moments later, both Sheriff Earl Benson and Sergeant Haddock came out together.
The Sheriff spoke in an authoritative and gruff manner. “At the moment, you are not suspects, but I hope that none of you will discuss this with anyone. We wouldn’t want to get things spread that there is a killer somewhere in Nassau County who is preying on young women. Anyhow, the press will get the word out on what was found soon enough. You probably will be sought by the press for information, but all of you have to promise me, for your own protection, as well as for finding justice for that poor woman, that you will not make any statements or have anything “leak-out” that could prevent them from solving this murder. Is this an agreement?”
Reality was starting to set in, and all four of them knew that what the sheriff said made sense. They agreed they would not talk to anyone, other than themselves, about what they discovered on Tiger Island, Florida.
It was around eleven o’clock that evening when the four of them, and Prince, got back to Fernandina Beach. Needless to say, they were totally exhausted and shaken up by their experience. The Sheriff’s Office had everyone’s cell phone numbers, as well as their home phone numbers and contact information, so they promised them that they would call them if anything developed, or if they needed any additional information.
Chapter Nine
Surf Restaurant, Fernandina Beach, Florida
John, Mary, Lucy, and Logan decided they needed to go home, take a shower, drink a beer, and then hopefully, go to sleep, in that order. They wanted to remain isolated for the next week, but they would meet up again at the Surf Restaurant around eight o’clock the next Saturday night since there was a live band playing, and they would need to get out in the public again and act like two normal couples out to enjoy themselves.
John picked up Mary around seven forty-five that Saturday evening. They arrived at the Surf Restaurant before Lucy and Logan, and found an isolated table for four on the back deck of the restaurant. Lucy and Logan arrived around eight and John ordered beer for all of them.
Lucy spoke to Mary in a soft voice, “Just think. If we had not gotten up with John at the Le Clos Restaurant, we wouldn’t have been on that boat ride or that island exploring”.
Mary’s voice matched Lucy’s, “Yeah, and if John had not had an old map he’d found in his uncle’s attic, and if all of us had not agreed to explore Tiger Island, the body of that poor woman might not have been discovered.”
Logan replied as he guzzled down another large swig of his beer. “It’s kind of creepy in a way. I guess it was providence that led us to the body.”
John got up out of his chair and gesturing a knightly bow towards Mary said, “Hey, I hear the band’s pretty good. Would you care to dance?”
Mary replied, “I thought Sir Lancelot would never ask.”
Lucy and Logan followed John and Mary to the dance floor. Everyone seemed to have a good time, swaying and dancing to the lead singer crooning out Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” when flashes from a camera began illuminating their silhouettes on the dance floor. Logan looked straight at the camera the last time the flash went off. Even though he was momentarily blinded by the light, he immediately recognized the press had found them. Logan yelled to the other three, “We’ve got to get out of here or this fellow will be letting his other colleagues know we are ‘fish bait’ for the taking.”
All four of them started darting towards the exit area when John spoke quickly to Logan, “Let’s all get in your jeep and park it in the parking lot behind Bret’s Restaurant. My boat has enough provisions to last us a few days, and by then these vultures will get tired of ‘buzzing around.’”
They ran quickly, got in Logan’s jeep, and drove quickly towards Front Street. Finding an empty parking spot beside the souvenir shop, they got out of the vehicle and hurried towards John’s boat, which was tied to the dock’s pilings outlined beautifully by the moonlight.
Chapter Ten
John Fielding’s Yacht
They untied the ropes, and after they had shoved off from the dock, John announced, “I think I will head south and follow the coastline until we get to Port St. Lucy. There we can refuel, get more provisions, and decide if we want to continue travelling southward or head back north to Fernandina Beach.”
Logan answered, “That sounds like a plan to me. Lucy and I will have to call our bosses and let them know what’s happened so they won’t be expecting us in to work the next few days.”
Mary thought about her dog, Prince, and called her neighbor to convey what happened and to see if she could continue taking care of Prince a few days. The neighbor, a sixty-nine year old widow, understood and said that she would be glad to have Prince a few more days and for Mary not to worry about anything. Mary had so many emotions catapulting together that she didn’t really know how she was feeling at this moment. In one way, she felt like a fugitive who was escaping the law; yet, she had not done any wrongdoing. In another way, she felt relief and pride reveling in the fact that John could keep a cool head and serve as a “protector” for all of them. In the end, she decided to just relax. She had not been on the boat since their discovery on Tiger Island. It was such a beautiful boat, and it cut through the water so smoothly, that one barely felt a rocking sensation from the waves hitting the side of the boat. Lucy and Logan were below deck. Mary was sitting in the white leather chair beside John in the cabin. John put the boat on “automatic” and stood behind Mary as she was gazing out at the moonlight dancing on the water.
“It’s a beautiful sight. For some unknown reason, I never tire of looking at the moon. When I was about ten years old, and a Boy Scout, I was often terrified of camping out because I didn’t know if bears would be lurking around ready to pounce on me and claw me to death. Lying on the sleeping bag inside my tent, and trying to calm myself to the point that I might be able to sleep, I would look at the moon and find it comforting that ‘old man moon’ was up in the sky watching out for me. I would soon drift off to sleep.”
Mary turned and looked at John. “You are really a very sensitive, caring, and self-sufficient man. Thank you for allowing us to seek refuge on your boat. It’s like a nightmare! We have gotten ourselves caught in a quagmire of a situation that may take some time to go away.”
John lifted her chin with his finger and said, “Trust me. It will, soon.”
He then put both of his hands on the side of her face and slowly bent his head down and kissed her.
Mary savored the softness of his lips on her lips. The kiss became more intense with both partners wrapping their arms around each other, and with hands exploring the contours of